Technical Field
The present disclosure is directed to systems and methods for analyzing subjects in a work environment. Furthermore, the disclosure relates to systems and methods for analyzing health and wellness of living beings such as livestock without substantially impacting workflow, movement patterns in the vicinity thereof, or the like.
Background
In industrialized farming, the health and wellbeing of livestock (e.g. cows, fish, poultry, swine, sheep, etc.) is critical to maintaining the ongoing operation and sustainability of an organization (such as a farm, a distribution chain, etc.). Of particular relevance, improved management of cattle is of interest to industrial institutions, food distribution networks, and farmers. Events such as breakouts of disease (e.g. infection, mastitis, influenza, etc.) can wipe out entire herds and/or otherwise adversely affect production of milk or produce. For example, clinical and subclinical mastitis may have significant negative impact on milk productivity and quality with diagnosis of clinical mastitis often prompting isolation of animals from a herd and even emergency slaughter. Although clinical mastitis is treated today with antibiotics, subclinical mastitis is not treated at all.
In addition, the optimization of breeding programs and the like may have significant impacts on the bottom line for such organizations.
In general, although monitoring of livestock may be very useful for assisting with herd management, the practicality of the monitoring process may be hampered by the need for maintaining an un-obscured and/or un-fouled view of the subjects over prolonged periods of time, coupled to the need to work amid soiled and/or cluttered environments, and in an unobtrusive manner (i.e. without substantially altering the environment, movement paths, workflow, etc.).